...And the conversation somehow drifted to 'Al Tishali Oti'. Declared one blogger, "If I was the sabra, I wouldn't post so cryptically'. "If I was the sabra", said another, "I wouldn't use so many Hebrew & Yiddish words." Another blogger chimed in, "If I owned 'Al Tishali Oti', I would be more consistent with colors n content." "I wouldn't be sarcastic to commenters", muttered another, darkly. One blogger added not. "I have nothing to say, for 'To know the sabra is to be the sabra'."

The patent-pending, trademarked IPC weighs in at three-quarters of a pound, yet it can bear 5,000 pounds and enables a rescuer to carrysomeone on his or her back. The unit’s 12.5-foot length folds down to just 10 inches.

“The IPC is made of high-tensile military strength webbing or seatbelt material, and it folds into an accordion shape so it’s small enough to throw in a camping bag,” says Agilite founder Elie Isaacson. “It has built-in padding and it’s sewn together in Delaware by the same people who makethe harnesses for the US Air Force’s V22 and C5 Aircraft.”

Search-and-rescue teams, hikers and emergency medical responders are among the eager markets for this Israeli-innovated advancement over the stretcher.

“If you have a natural disaster with mass casualties, you don’t have a helicopter and an ambulance for every casualty,” Isaacson explains to ISRAEL21c.

“You will have to evacuate people who are wounded, and maybe carry them long distances. An ordinary person can take heavy weight on his back if it’s positioned correctly.”

Many rescuers are trained to use the fireman’s carry, putting the injured person across their shoulders. But that technique is uncomfortable and doesn’t free the rescuer’s hands.

“If you are stuck in a ravine or a confined space, having the ability to use your hands to crawl out with the injured person on your back, with hands free to climb, is a huge step forward,” Isaacson points out.

The IPC has a fluorescent strip for greater visibility at night, and it’s adjustable to the size of the person being rescued.

Equipping rescuers and campers

A mountain rescue team from Taiwan recently bought the IPC, and so have emergency and outdoor equipment distributors in several countries. Mainly it has been marketed in the United States to law-enforcement, firefighting, emergency rescue and military personnel, as well as camping stores.

.

The rescuer’s hands are free.

The carrier folds down to 10 inches yet can hold 5,000 pounds.

.The carrier folds down to 10 inches yet can hold 5,000 pounds.

“In a situation where you are hiking with a friend and he twists his ankle, there’s no way to carry him back. If you throw this in your bag, you’ll be prepared,” says Isaacson, who moved to Israel from Manchester, England, in 2000 and headed the North American desk in the IDF Spokesman’s Unit from 2008 to 2010 after serving in the paratroopers.

Agilite’s additional partners Itzhak Oppenheim and Nadav Melichar, originally from the United States, are also IDF Special Forces veterans. The men, all in their early 30s, head a company that describes itself as “a leading-edge manufacturer of professional tactical gear headquartered inIsrael with operations in the United States and Great Britain.”

“Ideally we want to get the IPC to bodies like FEMA [the US Federal Emergency Management Agency], who have to prepare for mass casualty situations and have to carry long distances,” says Isaacson.

And it’s not surprising that Israeli ingenuity is behind this load-bearing innovation.

“Israelis do load-bearing incredibly well,” says Isaacson. Aside from the obvious military angle, “We’re big backpackers, and we have a strong outdoor industry. We know how to carry heavy loads most efficiently, for longer lengths of time”

Agilite was “incubated” by TheHive, a project begun by the non-profit immigrant employment organization Gvahim, based in Tel Aviv. The partners are already selling the IPC and other products worldwide.

“Now the blogosphere has a hold of it, it’s just getting bigger and bigger,” says Isaacson. “We’ve even been contacted by cruise lines interested in the IPC due to its suitability for confined spaces too small for an ambulance or even a stretcher.”

Monday, October 29, 2012

Rabbi Noah Weinberg zt"l was speaking to a group about judging people to the good. He was asked how to deal with people who seem so negative and evil. He replied: "Imagine you were at a corner ready to cross at a light. All of the sudden from behind someone shoves you into the street. You fall and get up scratched and dirty; you turn, ready to give the person who shoved you some of the angriest words you know. When you turn around, ready to pounce, you see that the person behind you is wearing dark glasses and holding a white cane. How do you feel now? Instantly you calm down, and your anger dissipates. He couldn't help it. he was blind."

"That", Rabbi Weinberg said "is how we deal with people who appear to us to be evil and mean. The person is blind. S/he doesn't wake up in the morning and decide to hurt people that day. The person literally doesn't know what they are doing. They are blind".

"The next time your parent, in-law, coworker etc. does something to make you crazy, picture them wearing dark glasses and holding a white cane. They are blind. They can't see that they are doing wrong. Help them, guide them, and show them gently the error of their ways. But don't expect them to change. A blind person can't see overnight. It takes time, and sometimes they will never see."

(Gossip by Lori Palatnik with Bob Burg)Sign up for daily Shmiras Halashon tips with protectourspeech@yahoo.com

All the nice things you said to me,
How did I forget them?
To my face you said them, and on the phone, text, messenger, email, facebook..

I see you after years (months? hearts calculate otherwise) and straightaway my tone goes to the negative, defensive, accusatory.

My heart DOES calculate otherwise.

Why did I skip years? It's beyond me.
Years of attention, love, caring, help, trust, reaching out.
Years of compliments.
Wait, why did I skip em??!

England attic and New York plaza and more before and after.

I'm a nut!

And why didn't I just explain how I felt (in the house)?
Why did I call my soul-friend (in the street)?
Why did I leave myself in that crazy situation? Why did I hurt myself?

Ok, I know why I hurt myself, but why o why didn't I just take a deep mature breath and explain the situation? Sure it would've been embarrassing, mighty embarrassing, but still, the air would've cleared. For eternity! For the eternal past too! And wait, I DID explain once. Before it got so bad. Er, same bad but Europe helps, ya know.

[No, not talking to or about you.]

Maybe you ought to pay for my help this time. Or just be the help.

And you raced to the bus station and I smirked in the bathroom and I legitimately escaped illegitimately and eons before we took a bus. Ye, we TOOK it.
Gosh, this is bothersome.

Wednesday, October 03, 2012

One of the activities prohibited in the Gulag was card playing. It was considered a severe crime, and harsh punishment was imposed if one was caught violating this prison rule.

Somehow, the inmates managed to smuggle in a deck of cards, and would while away their free time with the forbidden game.

The guards were told about the breach, and came to inspect the prisoners’ quarters. They found nothing.

As weeks went by, and the games continued, the guards were baffled. Are these uncouth prisoners really outsmarting us? they wondered.
They finally decided to put an end to this affront to their authority and pride, and carried out a surprise inspection, checking every inch of the barracks as well as the bodies and clothes of the inmates.

They found nothing.

They came to the conclusion that the informer had lied to them, either to curry favor in their eyes or to make a joke out of them.

As soon as the inspectors left, the cards appeared and the games continued as usual.

One of the prisoners, Reb Mendel, couldn’t understand how it had happened: the inspectors had checked every possible hiding place.

Eventually, he was let in on the secret.

“You see,” the head thief began, “we are professional pickpockets. As soon as the guards would enter the barracks, we would slip the cards into their pockets. Right before they would leave, we would slip them back out again. Obviously, it never occurred to the guards to check their own pockets . . .”

What is a sabra?
A sabra is a form of cactus, Opuntia ficus-indica, that grows extensively in Israel.
The fruit of the sabra has a thick peel with a sharp spine and is covered in prickly thorns. Once the rough and deterring exterior is peeled away, however, you will reach the contrasting sweet pulp.
Authentic Israelis are often referred to as "sabras" because they tend to be outwardly tough and coarse, but once you get to know them they really are a soft, sweet and sensitive people.